Vehicle door



Jan.- 12 1926. 1,569,725

H. H.,.DOEH| ER Er AL .VEHICLE Doon Filed Jan. 5, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 iq of l I INVENTOR5- n I HMM/w /x aat/ufl? mmc sra/rw ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 1,2 1926.

Patentea Jan. 12, ,'1926.

' UNITI-:on s'rgli'r'rzs` 1,569,725 PATENT OFFICE.

l HERMAN H. DOEHLER, oF NEW ROCHELLE, AND Marzo sTEnN,-OF` BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, AssIGNons To DOEHLER DIE-CASTING co., A" COPORATION oF NEW YoEx.

VEHICLE DOOR.

. y Application 4filed January 3, 1923. Serial No. 610,422.l

To all whom t may concern:

'Be it knownthat We, lHERMAN H.'

` DOEHLER and Mano STERN, citizensof they 'United States, residing at New Rochelle,

'5 county of' Westchester, State of New York, and borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New' York, respectively, have invented certain new -and useful Improvements in Vehicle Doors, of which the l following is a full, clear, and exact description. Y

Our invention relates to vehicle doors and particularly to lautomobile doors of the open body type. These doors as heretofore con- .15 structed, have an interior skeleton frame of the proper outline made up from several pieces of wood, including the outside mem bers, a cross brace and a plate forithe lock, -vfitted and secured together', and the outside sheet metal covering and the inside upholstery arenailed yto this frame. As a result of the labor and skill required in fabricat-'I ing` the frame, the manufacturing cost of such doorsv is considerable. e Furthermoreu the wooden frames are, relatively fragile and tendrto expandior contract in different' weather conditions, but nevertheless their use has persisted because of the facility of yattachment of the side covering.

'30 Our invention comprehends a door having an all-metal `frame which, while substantially as light as a Wooden frame door, is .umich more rigid and durable, which ma terially .reduces the time and cost of emanufacture, and to'V Whichthe sidevcoverings are attached as easily as to Woodenframes. In accordance with our invention we cast the framein one piece under pressure of a suitable die-casting alloy, such as an aluminumcopper alloy. -Such a'frame is light and strong and,.by reasonof the saving/in time` is much more' cheaply produced than a` wooden frame.. ln1 its preferred form, wev provide recesses', such raseither` continuous or discontinuous depressed shoulders along the inner edges of the outside frame members, on which Wooden strips are secured for the attachment of the side coverings. yThese strips may be secured in place in various ways, but we prefer to cast integral fingers 'upstanding along the inner l'edge of the shoulders which maybe bent in at with longitudinal grooves inthe wooden strips. Furthermore our invention lends 55 itself conveniently to casting the frame upon thev outside metal ysheet as an insert, and in the preferred embodiment of our invention the sheet metal has its edge turned up with its inner extremity bent or offset, '60 and the-frame is c ast directly upon this edge so that the frame and metal sheet are an integral unit. We are also able -to cast the bracket or supporting plate for the lock integral with the frame, and it is evident that the hinge members may also be cast` integral with the side frame member, although generally the hinge members will be separately attached to facilitate their adjustment, recessesbeing provided in the side 70 member to receive them, and reinforcing bosses being provided on the side opposite. the Drecesses for the hinge bol'ts, the bolt holes either being cored Or subsequently drilled. 75 Our invention also includes other features of construction as will hereinafter more ,fully appear.` We will now' describe the illustrated embodiment of our invention and will thereafter. point out our invention in claims.

Fig. 1 is an inside elevation of a door embodying our invention, 'with the inside or upholstery covering'removed; l

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the door on 85 Vthe line 2-2 of Figure `1; v

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the hinge end of the complete door;

Fig. 4 is a sectional inverted plan of the side frame member on the lock side of the i door, taken on line 4 4 of Figure l; and

' Fig. v5 is anenlarged fragmentary section' along the line 2-2 of Figure lof the portion of the finished. complete door including the transverse face. .y

The interior frame member l is of an outline of a-door opening, being generally -rectangular and oblong, except where the Jlowerqcorne'r at the lock edge ofthe door is concaved, as is often ythe case with the rear or tonneau doors of' automobiles. The frame members are generally angular or, L-shape in cross section,'the outer flange providing an adequate bearing surface for the sheet metal covering A2, and the top l y `frame member being rounded off at its their outer ends into locking engagement..v

outer4 edge to-provide the usual rounded top I. edge ofv the door. Y,

As above explained, the sheet metal outside covering 2 is set in the die and becomes an insert in the cast article, the frame being cast upon the upturned edge of the 1nsert, so that the upturned edge of the 1nsert is embedded in the outer corners of the frame, as shown. `lllhile there is sufficient metal at these. corners to provide agood anchor, the two flanges maybe made as thin as requirements will permit in order to minimize the weight. Inthe form shown, the member 2 has its margin turned back upon itself on the two ends and bottom, and is so proportioned in sizevas to extend past the periphery ofthe frameon these threesides 'and thereby provide the` usual overlap or weather strip to seal the.

crack around the door when -the door is closed. This overlap, being of double thickness, has the requisite strength and rigldity to withstand the usage to which it is likely to be subjected.

. The inner edge 3 of the margin of the member 2 `which is folded back, is turned up, as shown, and the extreme edge 4 is again turned down substantially parallel with the outer face of the door. Preferably the angle which the edge?, makes with the 'outer face of th'e door is less than 90, and it is evident that when the ,frame ismcast upon this upstanding edge, the two members are securely locked together. The member'2 is flanged inwardly at its top, as shown in Figure 2, the outer corner being rounded off and the width of the fiange being the same as the thickness of the frameV l. The extreme 'top edgeof the member 2 is turned down to the plane of the inner Y face of the door to provide'a lip 5, the extreme edge of ywhich may again be inwardly offset, as shown, and the metal of the frame is flowed underneath this lip and within the rounded top, of the member 2, thereby anchoring the top edge of the sheet metal covering 2 and causing the top face of the frame to be covered by the sheet metal. It

l desired, the usual sockets or recesses 6 for the curtain rods may be cored in the top of the door at the time of casting.

In the form shown, recesses 7 are formed Y inthe outer face of one Iof the end members of the frame for the reception of the usual hinges, and opposite these recesses 7 suitable bosses 8'. are formed, through which the holes for the hinge-bolts pass. On the inner flac/e of the opposite side member, the supporting plate or flange 9 for a lock is cast integral with the frame in proper disposition relative to thel recess 10 for the strike. A suitable anti-rattling stud or projection`11 0n the face 1 of Vthe .door may be set into tthe mold as an insert and cast integrally with 'the'.frame, as shown. u.

Across brace 12 betweenfithetwo end angle member, the outer flange of which l merges into that of the frame, while the transverse flange integrally joins those of the end 'frame members.

The upholsteryv covering for the inner :tace of the door is shown as composed of an inner layer 13 of cardboard, or the like,

an internal filling 14 of felt or similar materiahand an outside cover l5 of leather or its equivalent.` To provide convenient means for the attachment of this upholstery covering there are facilities for securing wooden strips 16 to the outside frame mem` bers, the edge of the leather covering 15 being tacked( or otherwise secured to these strips, and the cross brace 12 also has nails 111 cast therein as inserts which project inwardly beynd the inner face of the`braoe, as shown in Figure 2, and are clinched over the inner layer 13 of cardboard, as

mediate securing means for the upoholstery.

In the form shown, the frame members are shouldered or longitudinally recessed along their inside corners on the inside face of the frame. These shoulders are shown `shown in Figure 5, thereby affording inter- Y as discontinuous, although manifestly they u could he made continuous. In the construction illustrated integral spaced transverse ribs 18" are formed in the angle on the inside face of the frame member at such frequent intervals as may be necessary, which ribs terminate short of the inner edge of the frame members, thereby providing de? pressed shoulders for the reception of the 4wooden strip 16. These ribs also serve to reinforce or, strengthen the frame.

The wooden strips or inserts 16 are of such'a height that they are just flush with the inner .face of the frame.` To 4secure these wooden inserts, upstanding ngers 19 are cast integrally with the inner edges of most of the ribs 18 sothat their inner faces oppose the inner faces of the wooden inserts 16. These inserts or strips have their inner faces longitudinally grooved, as shown, and the upper ends of the fingers 19 are turned or bent into'these grooves, thereby locking the wooden strips against outward escapement. Likewise where required, end stops 20 may be cast integrally with the frame t0 further lsecure the wooden inserts.

Doors having wooden frames would require that these frames be Aprotected by a covering of metalr on the two edges and bottom where the fraaie would otherwise be exposed, but since our frame is of metal no such additional protection is needed.v l It is obvious that various modications Vmay bemade in the constructionfshownin l the ldrawings and above particularly described within' the principle and scopeof our invention. We claim:

1. A-vehicle door comprising a sheet metal cover member having a marginal portion turned up at an angle to the s heet'member with its extremity bent substantially par-` allel to the sheet member, and a Ametallic frame cast against the side of the. cover member upon the said marginal port`ion.

2. A vehicle door comprising a sheet metal cover member having its` margin doubled back upon itself and the inner edge of said margin upturned, and a metallic frame member cast upon the said upturned edge within the boundary of the cover member.,

, 3. A vehicle door comprising 'a sheet metal cover member having its margin doubled back against one face so as to bring'the edge within theperiphery and having theedge turned up at an acute anglewith the,

extremity of the turned up portion oifs'et, and a1 metallic frame member cast wholly against said face upon the said. upturned edge.

4. A vehicle door comprisinga sheet metal cover member having its margin vdoubled back against one face so as to bring the edgewithin the periphery .and having the' `edg'e turned up` at an acute angle with the extremity- A of the turned up portion bent inwardly, and a metallic frame having the outline of the periphery of the cover -memvber cast wholly against said lface upon the said upturned edge, the frame being some- `what smaller than thefacing member so that the -margin of the facing member protrudes beyond the frame.

5. For vehicle doors, an interior metallic skeleton frame cast in one piece and havingthe outline of a door opening, the mem.-

bers of the frame bein shouldered along the inner edge of one face, wooden'stri s disposed on saidv shoulders flush with e face of the hrame,-and locking fingers integral with the frame and extending in front of said'shoulders in locking relation cured therein by the said securing members,

to the wooden strips.

6. A vehicle door comprisingian outside metal cover sheet having its edge turned in, a metallic skeleton frame member having the outline of a door opening and cast in one piec'e upon said turned in edge and having a plurality of' recessesv in its inner face, bendable securing members 'cast integral with the frame adjacent said recesses, wooden inserts set in saidrecesses and` seandan upholstery covering secured to said wooden inserts.

7. A vehicle door comprising -an outside metal cover sheet having its margin doubled back and having the edge of the turned back portion bent up at an acute angle, a metallic skeleton frame having the outline of a door opening cast in one piece upon said bent up edge, the members of the frame being shouldered along the inner edge of their inside outline frame the members offwhich are substantially L-shape' in cross section and which have on their inside faces within the angle integral transverse ribs terminating.

short of the inner edges of the members `to form depressed shoulders, and retaining fingers integral with the ribs extending inwardly beyond the shoulders at the inner .edge thereof.

10. For vehicle doors an interior metallic skeleton frame cast in one piece and having the outline of a door opening, and including an integral `cross brace, the inside face of the outer members of .the frame having longitudinal shoulders and integral fingersextending transversely beyond said 100l shoulders, and nails cast integrally with the cross brace and having their pointed ends protruding beyond the face of the frame.

11. A vehicle door comprising a sheet metal side covering having its margin on 105 three sides bent back against one face and .the edges of the said threemargins bent up from said face and having its top portion rounded overv and its, top -edge bent down and back to form an. overhanging lip, and 110 a skeleton frame cast inone piece upon said face of the side covering about the said 9. For vehicle, doors an interior metallic 'I bent up edges and within the rounded over f topunderneath the overhanging lip.

In Witness whereof, we'- hereunto subscribe 115 our signatures. V-

' HERMAN H. DOEHLER.

MARC STERN. i A p 

